1. Field of the Invention
A food additive that decrease fat absorption in mammals
2. Discussion of the background
Our sedentary life including the decreased physical activity and increased food intake have made us prone to be overweight. The above has brought as consequence that almost 40-50% of the USA population is 20% above their desirable weight. The advance in the science of food and nutrition not only has made us wiser about the functions of all nutrients but also by applying that knowledge we have concentrated food in smaller portions by which the satisfaction of filling is decreased. Even if the amount of food intake remains the same, we will have an excess caloric intake due to the high energy concentration of such type of food (Bell, et al 1997). Currently, the weight loss related market is full of diet pills that reduce appetite by suppressing brain hormones, drugs that suppress the absorption of nutrients, pills that supposedly have ergogenics effect, pills that increase food passage rate and other fad diets. Mostly all of these drugs have secondary effects like depression, anxiety, addiction and others.
A new approach for the reduction of calories in food is by the use of fat substitutes (Gershoff, et al 1995). Each gram of fat provides 9 calories as compared to 4 calories per gram of carbohydrate and protein. Fat substitutes mainly those made of long carbohydrate chains are use for the elaboration of prepared food with the purpose of maintaining fat properties in the prepared food but decreasing calories. A new fat substitute, Olestra, which is made of long chain fatty acids that are too big for digestive enzymes (lipase) to breakdown, therefore that type of fat is not absorbed. It has been observed that the consumption of Olestra has resulted in decreased absorption of fat soluble and the presence of fat in the feces. A long term study (12 weeks) where ⅓ of the dietary fat was replaced with olestra, female subjects lost weight and did not compensate for the reduced calories and fat intake (Roy, et al, 1997).
In the animal industry, researchers have been working on the reduction of fat accumulation in animals since this characteristic first, has a negative effect on profits and second, consumers want less visible fat in order to decrease the health risk.
Fat accumulation in animals has been reduced by passively administered antibodies against adipocyte plasma membrane in rats, pigs, rabbits and lambs. Immunity against growth hormone has also decreased abdominal fat in chickens (Brodie and Hu, 1996; Moloney, 1995; Flint, 1992).
Lipase, an enzyme produced by the pancreas, hydrolyzes triacylglicerides into free fatty acids and glycerol. This is a crucial step in breaking down ingested fat in the gastrointestinal tract. Lipase is more active in the duodenum (small intestine) where broken down fat with the aid of bile salts form micelles and then are absorbed by the intestinal mucosa.
Therefore, by inhibiting lipase through binding the ingested fat will not be absorbed and the fat itself will be excreted.